Senators want feds to clarify AI use for decisions
Three senators are proposing a law to force the federal government to explain when it uses artificial intelligence to make decisions affecting the American people.
The Senate is busy crafting new AI rules, and a bipartisan trio wants to ensure the federal government is telling people how and when it employs AI.
The Transparent Automated Governance Act from Sens. James Lankford, Oklahoma Republican; Gary Peters, Michigan Democrat; and Mike Braun, Indiana Republican, aims to increase the government’s disclosure of AI use amid concerns about unintended consequences affecting people’s security and privacy.
“The federal government can and should thoughtfully integrate new technology to help improve customer service for Americans,” Mr. Lankford said Friday in a statement. “But agencies should be transparent about when, where and how we are interacting with AI to ensure continuous oversight and accountability for how these tools impact Americans.”
Democrats have taken a lead role in shaping proposed AI rules in Washington. Senate Majority Leader Charles E. Schumer has jump-started his fellow Democrats’ effort to regulate AI, and the White House is developing a new National AI Strategy.
The rapid adoption of AI tools has spread to Washington. Mr. Peters joined with his Republican colleagues in hopes of increasing the sharing of information about the government’s use of emerging technology.
“This bipartisan bill will ensure taxpayers know when they are interacting with certain federal AI systems and establishes a process for people to get answers about why these systems are making certain decisions,” Mr. Peters said.
The bill would force the government to notify people when they are interacting with AI and automated systems or when people are subject to AI-fueled decisions about things such as health care, education and access to government benefits, according to a draft of the legislation.
The proposal also creates an appeals process to give individuals the opportunity to challenge decisions where someone is harmed as a result of the use of AI tools.
“The federal government needs to be proactive and transparent with AI utilization and ensure that decisions aren’t being made without humans in the driver’s seat,” Mr. Braun said.
Alongside the bipartisan trio’s AI bill is a flurry of other Senate action on AI legislation, with the Senate Judiciary Committee holding hearings.
A Senate Judiciary subcommittee on privacy, technology and the law gathered testimony last month from OpenAI CEO Sam Altman, whose company makes the popular chatbot ChatGPT.
Earlier this month the Senate Judiciary subcommittee on intellectual property held its first AI hearing, and the committee’s panel on human rights is readying another AI hearing next week.
